Injured pride
by denebtenoh
Summary: Placed during the bounto arc, when they find the hideout. What could ve caused Rukia to be left behind? what are the grave consequences of it?


There comes a time when drawing is just not enough. So I wrote something as well.

This one shot is placed during the bounto arc, where the guys find their hideout and go to fight them. The first time I watched it I really hated it because it portrayed a very weakened Rukia, since she was left behind to heal after, what I thought at first, was a simple injury. But now, watching it again, it brought many questions into my mind. What could´ve happened to make her so helpless with only one blow? My medical training took off, and, with my current mental state, this is what came out.

Hope it´s not too gross for you, guys. I swear it´s not meant to hurt anybody (only Rukia, and for extension, myself) but my work with Carrie has led me into tyring to imagine all the things that can be explained medically... and how it´s consequences bring a story on their own.

Hope you enjoy!

Just a reminder, all the characters portrayed in here are property of Kubo Tite... please man!! bring the IchiRuki back for us!!!!

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"Ugh!"

"Rukia!" Ichigo and Renji yelled at the same time, moving forward a single inch, knowing that any other inch could injure the already damaged pride of the petit shinigami… and would earn them a very nice hit on… some painful part.

"Nee-san!" Kon yelled, unimpressed at his object of afection´s ill temper, and outstretching his arms, trying to comfort her, but without actually touching her.

"I´m fine" the addressed shinigami said, flinching, trying to breathe evenly, as painlessly as possible "don´t worry."

They were all gathered in a circle, with Rangiku at her left and Kon on her right, Chad, Orihime and the other two shinigami in front, the last two standing and about to accept the bounto´s challenge… and all of them looking concerned at her every move. That really annoyed her, but it was understandable, with her powers still not fully recovered, and…

"Shuuhei told me all about it." Rangiku said. "About the direct damage inflicted to your soul".

That too.

"I´m ok, Matsumoto fukutaicho"

"You know that a direct damage to your soul takes more time to recover."

"Yes." Rukia closed her eyes, breathing steadily, trying to keep her temper at bay. "I´m aware of that." Her chest burned. She could feel the many broken ribs on her right, preventing her from breathing in deeply.

"Well" Renji said, giving a step on the opposite direction from the group "I´ll be gone, I want to face that bounto and his Gisselle already!". His eyes were afire, thinking on the little boy whom he tried so desperately to protect. The one who was lying on bed, recovering from the recent attack.

"Wait! Renji! I´m coming with you!" Ichigo yelled, stepping beside him.

"B-but… Kurosaki-kun…" said a stuttering Orihime, half reaching for him, half afraid of moving.

"I´m sorry, Inoue, I need you to take care of Rangiku and Rukia´s injuries. Chad, please, take care of them and protect them if they´re attacked."

Rukia opened her eyes at that, fury on them. "I´m coming with you."

"No." came the cold reply from Ichigo, who didn´t turn to look at her. "You´re injured, you cannot fight."

Rukia felt her blood boiling, heat rushing on her face. "Of course I can fight, Ichigo!! You can´t leave me behind!" Rukia flinched slightly at the effort. "You need my help! The two of you won´t …"

"That´s enough!" Ichigo yelled. "I won´t be repeating myself, Rukia. You´re injured!" he paused a second. "You´ll hold us down." Although Ichigo knew that it was a direct blow on her pride, he also knew it was necessary. He understood her well, so he knew any kind words wouldn´t be enough to stop the raging shinigami.

Unfortunately, it seemed, those weren´t enough to stop her either.

"How… how dare you say such things!!?" Rukia was screaming now, half standing, trying her best to ignore the pain, disguising it with rage. "You two won´t stand a chance alone!"

"Rangiku will catch up as soon as she´s healed" he turned to see her, anger in his face… but with a plea in his eyes. "It will be safer if you stay."

But Rukia had had enough. She had felt so powerless, so useless, and as she got more injuries, her helplessness and anger at herself escalated exponentially. She couldn´t believe that Ichigo, the one she trusted the most, would say that to her! She raised herself this time, hands clenched, and stood up in front of Ichigo, her eyes set on him, defying him. "I won´t have that!! You can´t order me to stay behind!!"

"Rukia!" screamed Renji.

"No Renji! I won´t be left behind!!" Blazing fury was printed on her eyes. "I might not be able to run. But I still have reiatsu enough to fight!! I won´t let you two go off alone! You need as much of us as you can have!"

"I won´t put you in unnecessary danger, Rukia." Ichigo´s claim was in a low tone, as if begging, but without a flinch in his determined eyes that were boring holes on her amethyst ones. Everyone behind them kept silent, afraid of intervening.

"Ichigo! I´m a shinigami, you idiot!! I don´t …" but she couldn´t finish the sentence, as she felt a sudden sting in her right cheek that sent her crashing on the ground, next to Rangiku.

"Tawake!" screamed Ichigo, as he pushed fiercely at Renji´s chest. "That wasn´t necessary!!"

"Of course it was!" the redheaded shot back. "Look at her! She won´t back off otherwise!" the two of them stared at each other for almost a minute, until Ichigo´s concerned eyes searched for Rukia´s form, who was hiding her face under her raven locks, laying low on the ground, and who hadn´t moved from that position an inch, Rangiku already with her hands on her shoulders.

"Rukia…" said Ichigo.

"I won´t forgive you…" said Rukia, with a low, trembling voice. "You both will… will pay for this…"

Ichigo moved as if to reach for her, but Renji´s hand on his shoulder prevented him from that. Ichigo looked at him, and saw him shaking his head. He understood the gesture.

"I know Rukia" Renji answered for the two of them, as he walked away and forced Ichigo out with him. "I know…"

They both ran off for some minutes in complete silence, until Renji spoke.

"You perfectly know it was needed." He said, as if trying to calm his conscience.

"I still feel you were too harsh on her." Was Ichigo´s calm reply.

"Yeah, but if I hadn´t done that, she would´ve found a way to convince you." He smirked at that. "She always finds a way with you."

"Eeeeh???" Ichigo´s face reached a boiling limit. "What´s THAT supposed to mean??? Of course she wouldn´t…!!!" His anger raised at Renji´s disbelieving stare. He blushed even more. "Well… she does that with you too!" was the childish reply.

Renji did smile this time. "I know." He said, almost to himself.

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The moment they were out of sight, with a faint 'thank you' Rukia released herself from Rangiku´s grip, hiding her face from everyone with her dark bangs and walking towards the opposite direction the other two had taken.

"Kuchiki-san…" Orihime called her out, concern on her face.

"I´ll be fine, Inoue." Was Rukia´s faint reply, without turning back. "I just… please heal Matsumoto´s injuries. I… need a moment."

Sado gave a step to block her path, and they both stood facing each other a few seconds, Rukia´s eyes never reaching up to his. "Please…" she didn´t want to argue with this man. She trusted him, respected him, and she knew he understood her feelings well. But she knew his promise to his friend was just too much for him. "Sado…" she almost pleaded for his understanding and, grudgingly, he complied, stepping aside. "Thank you…"

"Kuchiki…" called Orihime once more, raising a hand towards her, but found Rangiku´s one stopping her from finishing the sentence.

"She does need a time, you know? Don´t worry, I´ll go after her in a moment. Just give her space."

Orihime nodded, but the concerned look never left her face, as she was reading herself to heal the other woman´s injuries.

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As Rukia walked by, her breathing became more unsteady by the minute, making it harder and more painful to breathe, she almost feared every breath. "Baka…" she said, angrily, referring to Renji. She knew that, the moment she hit the ground, something had happened inside of her, and after that moment her inspirations had become insufficient. She felt as if she couldn´t bring enough air into her lungs. She felt like suffocating, and each minute passing by she felt worse.

"Baka…" she said once more. She knew something was terribly wrong, but she couldn´t face it again, she couldn´t see again the concerned and pitiful look in their eyes. She couldn´t allow herself to feel vulnerable and weakened in front of them… again. So she had to hide, confident that this would pass quickly, and that she only needed to wait. Unfortunately, she had guessed wrong. Each moment became harder and harder, each breathing a struggle, and it was getting worse by the minute.

She moaned at the pain as she tried to inhale deeper, in an effort to drive in the so needed oxygen. But it was in vain. Her lungs refused to take it in.

"Ichigo…" she called out, as she leaned in the rock behind her, her focus fading for the lack of oxygen, staggering. "Renji…"

"My, my…" a male voice was heard in front of her. "A weakened shinigami? What are you doing all alone in here? Were are your friends?"

"Who´s… there?" she tried to scream, but heard her own voice fading. Raising her eyes, she saw shinigami robes… and a face she recognized after a second… "Y-you!"

"I see you can remember me." The man smiled.

"Just… barely." Her breathing became unsteady. It was hard and painful to even talk now. Her body already completely covered in sweat. "I couldn´t… see your face… properly, but… I saw…" she inhaled deeper, raising her head in an effort to catch more air, clenching her hands into fist for the pain it caused her. "I saw you behind Inoue´s… hair… facing Hisagi… senpai." At this she coughed, and saw with terror blood coming out of her mouth. Her breathing became shallow.

"You seem to be in no condition of talking." He said, as he saw she was slowly sliding off towards the ground, breathing as her only concern. "Alright then." He unsheathed his zanpakuto. "Let´s do this quick." He gave some steps towards Rukia, but she almost couldn´t see him straight. Her sight was already blurred, although her body was determined not to fall until the last moment. "I can´t promise you this will be painless. Rather, on the contrary." He brought his weapon behind him, to bring him forward in a straight path, fast forward, thrusting it onto her shoulder, breaking some bones and embedding it´s point in the rock behind.

Rukia shrieked at that, but fortunately her condition had her already a bit anesthetized, so her pain wasn´t that much… or that much of her concern. The oxygen was the only thing on her mind.

The shinigami flicked his wrist, making the sword twitch inside of Rukia´s body, drawing a spurt of blood from the wound and this time a scream from her, which faded quickly. They both stood in that position a full minute, until the amethyst eyes fluttered slightly open, and she noticed she could breathe again, although just barely. She took a mouthful of air, her muscles tensing at the pain it brought her, and this time noticing the incredibly painful wound she had on her right.

Rukia searched weakly for the stranger´s eyes, finding them very close to her own, and staring intently at her.

"You know?" he said softly, addressing her. "You have Hisana´s beautiful eyes." She opened her eyes wide, and closed them immediately out of pain as he drew his sword in a fast move, back from her body, making her fall to the ground, trembling.

"Don´t move, Ichinose" she heard another male´s voice, but this time she recognized it immediately.

"Hisagi… senpai…"

"Are you alright, Rukia?" He asked, and she turned her face to see him, standing in front of the shinigami, with his zanpakuto drawn close to the enemy´s throat.

"I suggest, Shuuhei, that you take care of her first. She needs immediate attention."

"Shut up!" Yelled the fukutaicho. "Just don´t move, or I´ll cut your head off." His eyes were set on fire. "I wouldn´t believe you to fall this low, Ichinose."

"You don´t know what you´re talking about."

Hisagi was about to protest, when Rukia´s body was shrieked by a rant of cough, spitting blood from it.

"Shit!"

"I told you, Shuuhei. Let our fight be drawn by tomorrow. Today, save your comrade´s life."

Hisagi looked at him intently, and sheathed his sword. "So be it." He said, and the shinigami jumped back from them.

"Send my regards to Kuchiki for me, would you?" and with that, he ran off.

Without addressing the other man, the fukutaicho took Rukia´s fragile body on his arms and as soon as he did, Sado´s figure came running towards him, concern written all over his face.

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A/N: Ok, the idea is that she had a lung completely full of air in a place it´s not supposed to, and Ichinose helped her by taking it out, although not quite the proper way she would´ve wanted it to... but that´s war for you guys. I wrote this to help a friend, and it´s curious how it turned out the other way around, since it was me the one who was helped.

Now I´m able to move on.

Thank you, guys!!


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